Easter Hat Parade Our annual Easter Hat Parade will be held on Friday, 11th April from 10am in

the school hall. Students are asked to design and decorate their Easter hat at

home and bring to school on the day of the parade. Traditionally, students in

Kindergarten to Year 2 have decorated Easter hats for the parade. Students

in Years 3-6 may choose to decorate an Easter hat, poster or mask for the

parade. Students sit with their class during the festivities and parade in class

groups. Pre-schoolers and toddlers will also have an opportunity to parade,

so younger siblings and friends coming to the parade may also like to make

an Easter hat at home. Our junior and senior choirs will perform during the

parade, and the P&C Easter raffle will be drawn. Parents, family and friends

are invited to join us for this wonderful event.

Boys Cricket I would just like to acknowledge the effort and enthusiasm of our Boys

Cricket team over the past month. They were defeated by Abermain Public

School in the second round of the PSSA knockout on Wednesday, but they

have been training so hard over the last few weeks, I didn’t want it to go

unnoticed. Thank you, in particular to captain Dylan Fox, who spent a lot of

time designing the fielding positions for our team. Thank you to our parents

for your excellent support, as well.

School Website There are some lovely new class photos on our website that reflect the wonderful learning environments your children are working in. Go check them out if you have time.

SMART Science Show Years 1 to 4 will be participating in a Smart Science Show, run by the University of Newcastle, at school on Monday, 24th March. Years 3 and 4 will be learning about ‘Science at Home’ in a series of small workshops between 9:15-10:15. Years 1 and 2 will be learning about ‘What do They Do?’ in a series of small workshops, from 10:30-11:30. 6 of our school leaders will be joining in to support our younger students work through the activities. There is no cost to the students, as this is a University of Newcastle initiative through their Aim High programs.

2 1 M A R 2 0 1 4

D A T E S F O R T H E D I A R Y

24 March SMART Science Show Years 1-4

2 April Bus Safety Day

9 April Zone Cross Country

11 April Easter Hat Parade 10am in the Hall

7 May NRMA Science & Road Safety Day

13, 14, 15 May NAPLAN

Playgroup Dates Term 2 Tuesdays 6, 13, 20 and 27 May

3 June Thursdays 8, 15, 22 and 29 May

5 June 10am-11.30am In the Hall.

CANTEEN ROSTER Mon 24 March Pam Webb Sarah Blackmore Sharon Jones

Wed 26 March Judy Mayer Sheryle Farley Kelly James

Fri 28 March Judy Mayer Kelly James Sarah Blackmore

T E R M 1 W E E K 8

N E W S L E T T E R - T E R M 1 W E E K 8

Staff Movement Miss King, Mrs McGowan and Mrs Ford will be attending a Professional Learning seminar on working with children with autism on Monday, 24th March. Ms Beveridge and Mrs Corke will be attending a professional learning day on Thursday, 27th March, in relation to developing effective practices around Personalised Learning Plans for students.

NRMA Science & Road Safety Day Wednesday 7th May Our school will be hosting an NRMA Science & Road Safety Day, a new road safety program delivered by NRMA Motoring & Services free of charge to schools across NSW and ACT as part of its commitment to child road safety. The day looks at road safety from a science perspective so that children can better understand the forces that act on an object (humans) in motion (in cars or on bikes) so that road safety messages such as “Wear your seatbelt” become more relevant. Parent/ Carer Workshop Parents/Carers play a vital road in keeping their children safe on the roads and are invited to attend a Parent/Carer workshop at 2.30pm in the school hall. The workshop will be delivered by a science professional who will explain what parents can do to help their children stay safe on their bikes and in cars.

Bus Safety Day On Wednesday 2nd April we will be having a Bus Safety Day. Our students will practise waiting for, boarding, travelling and leaving a bus. Rover Coaches have generously donated a bus and driver for this practise. There will be no cost involved but your child will need to return a permission note to their class teacher as soon as possible. The permission notes were sent home on Wednesday.

PBL Meeting The next school Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) meeting will be held on Tuesday, 25th March from 3:30pm in the school staff room. The team are developing lessons in relation to the expectations of students at the canteen. Stayed tuned for more information.

NAPLAN Assessment NAPLAN - Year 3 and Year 5 Assessment Dates: Tuesday, 13th May, Wednesday, 14th May and Thursday, 15th May. There will be a back-up day on the Friday for students who were absent for any of the assessment through the week. If you have any questions about the NAPLAN, please contact the office to arrange an appointment.

Premier ’s Reading Challenge

This year, once again, we have enrolled in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. This is a state-wide program to encourage quality reading. Children choose from a list of books and are encouraged to read these books by the end of August 2014. For students in Years 3-6, the Challenge is to read a minimum of 20 books of which at least 15 must be chosen from specially selected Premier’s Reading Challenge booklists. Students in Year K-2 must experience 30 books. If your child is successful he/she will receive a certificate from the Premier acknowledging their wonderful achievement. This is a great way to encourage reading and we are hopeful of your support in encouraging your child to take part and read these books. Interested students from Yr 3-6 can collect a form from the Library and children are responsible for keeping a record of the books they have read. Children can either give me the form at the end of August or they can enter the books themselves on the Premier’s Reading Challenge website. All K-2 children will take part in the Challenge and experience the 30 books in the classroom as part of their Reading program but they may also borrow books to read or have read to them at home. Children who complete the Premier's Reading Challenge will receive a PRC certificate and appear in the PRC Honour Roll and will have their names published in the Herald in November so if you don’t want your child’s name published in the newspaper please let me know. Children will be able to borrow books from the list during Library lessons at school. Kurri Kurri Library may also be of assistance. You can find more information about the Challenge and the reading lists at: www.schools.nsw.edu.au/premiersreadingchallenge

Thank you for your support and enjoy reading!

N E W S L E T T E R - T E R M 1 W E E K 8

Active After School Sport Next Wednesday, 26th March is the SECOND LAST Active after School Session from 3:30pm. The last session will be on Wednesday, 2nd April.

P&C News The Easter hat parade is approaching fast. This year the fundraising committee are asking for Easter eggs to be donated to assist with our Easter egg raffle. The eggs can be left at the office. Raffle tickets will be sent out on 28th March.

School Fees Voluntary School Contribution fees have been set at $45 per family for 2014. These fees enable us to supply students with classroom resources, such as maths equipment, technology support and stationery. If you are able to make this payment, please do so at the school office. Thank you.

Live Life Well at School Some interesting vegetable facts Frozen vegetables are usually snapped frozen on ripening and can have the same nutritional value as fresh vegetables. Try to include different vegetables every day. Different coloured vegetables provide different vitamins and other nutrients. Eating enough vegetables can protect you against many lifestyle diseases including heart disease, stroke, some cancers and diabetes. Ideas for encouraging kids to eat vegetables include: baked beans on toast for

breakfast or baked bean toasted sandwiches

grated vegetables such as carrot and zucchini into stews, casseroles and mince

salad in sandwiches or a small salad to go with a sandwich

sliced vegetables, for example cherry tomatoes, cucumber wedges or carrot sticks.

Partners in Print Our next Partners in Print program will be on Friday, 28th March from 9:30am in 5/6B. Information and an expression of interest will be sent home this week with students in 5/6B. We hope you are able to attend.

Assembly Awards Congratulations to the following students who received an award at this weeks assembly. Principal’s Awards: Kobi D and Halle W.

Citizenship Awards: Joshua H and Alex D.

Certificate of Excellence: Jemma.

Class Achievement Awards: Jaiden H, Sacha, Emmy, Isabel B, Mia, Jade L, Trixta, Tayah, Tahlea, Hamish, Mitchell P, Joshua F, Ella, Jack C, Bryton, Jack R, Marty, Marina, Keleigh and Dylan F.

Certificate of Merit: Jemma, Zac B, Koby M, Zane S, Makira, Sacha, Zane W, Jarod, Shelby, Tyler, & Lilly O.

Shaun Graham - Principal

N E W S L E T T E R - T E R M 1 W E E K 8

Partners in Print 4L

Cross Country